The Gospels tell the story of rich young ruler who came to Jesus for advice. (Matthew 19; Mark 10; Luke 18). “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” he asked. Of course, Jesus knew the heart of the man, but anyone listening carefully might have detected a wrong motive. The young man used a word from the legal jargon of the day: inherit (κληρονομέω). The word refers to the legal right of someone to inherit their share. He might as well have asked Jesus, “How can I get what’s coming to me?”
When Jesus gave the young man a simple answer, “Obey the
commandments,” the response was perhaps a little arrogant: “I have done that.”
To that Jesus replied with a scalpel that cut to the man’s heart problem. “Go
and sell all you have and give to the poor.” We know the end of that exchange;
the man left disappointed “for he was one who owned much property.” As the rich
young man left, Jesus turned to His followers and said, “How hard it will be
for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were “amazed” at Jesus’ words. Their amazement
revealed their faulty conception of God’s economy of blessing. The Jews of
Jesus day believed that a person’s wealth represented blessing by God. Jesus
corrected their misunderstanding by saying, “Children, how hard it is to enter
the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” He
had just told them, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the
kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Adults in general would have difficulty stirring up the
faith a child would have naturally. Rich adults have an even harder time
because they have all their needs met, and abandoning their reliance on their
wealth is hard. Hence Jesus’ analogy of the camel passing through the eye of a
needle.
I notice that Jesus did not say it was impossible for a rich
person to enter the Kingdom – just “hard.” Luke
records the incident with Zacchaeus almost immediately after the tale of the rich young
ruler. Perhaps the rich young ruler was from Jericho, and he went there after
his encounter with Jesus. Maybe he shared his tale with his rich friend
Zacchaeus. That might explain why Zacchaeus was so interested in seeing Jesus for
himself. It might also explain why the rich tax collector immediately offered
to give away his riches. This proves what
Jesus said to his disciples on the heals of the rich young ruler’s
disappointing behavior: “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Zacchaeus
heard God; the rich young ruler did not.
This helps to explain why the gospel is not being widely
accepted in Western society. The gospel, the good news is that people can be
saved from a disastrous future. Being comfortable and confident in their
material prosperity, few people recognize any need to be saved. Couple this
with the pervading opinion that humans are the highest order of being – there
is no “higher power” – and you have a recipe for unconcerned unbelief. Compounding
this attitude is the lack of belief in absolute truth; truth is whatever one
wants to believe is true. The Christian claim to know the truth rings as hollow
as the claim that people need to be saved.
My wife and I worked for several years in a ministry that
served recovering addicts and persons returning to society after years of
incarceration. Many of those individuals recognized the deep need in their
lives and found satisfaction in the provision Jesus promised. One of the most
compelling aspects of the gospel to these people was the unconditional love
represented in the Cross of Christ. Many of them had never known what real love
is, and the realization that God had sent His Son to die for their sin was
extremely compelling. We saw lives changed, families reunited, new careers
begun, and needs met in almost miraculous ways. Those folks came to realize
that God loved them, and the love of the church community made it real to them.
The great challenge for evangelism in a prosperous country like America is to identify needs that are not being met and show how the gospel meets those needs. The best way to do that is found in the biblical command to love God and love your neighbor. You don’t have to be an addict or a felon to need love and acceptance. Even the rich can feel empty and without purpose as evidenced by the fact that many wealthy people have admitted that money has not bought them happiness. Solomon said that every person senses that something is missing. Those of us who hear God know what that missing thing is. Our job is to help people see what they are missing. We need to convince people to stop chasing the dollar and to go after what they really need.
Related Posts: Abraham’s Promises – Solomon’s Rules; Do We Really Need God
In the last hundred years or so, the misunderstanding exposed by the disciples has resurfaced in the so-called prosperity gospel. Wealth is once again being regarded as a sign of God’s blessing. Believe the right things, say the right words and God is bound to give you the prosperity you seek. I have written previously that this thinking incorrectly appropriates the Old Testament economy into the New Testament church. I am not denying that God does bless some believers with material prosperity. The mistake some people are making is to say that material prosperity is a universal right for believers.
ReplyDeleteThe Bible record and two millennia of church history should provide evidence of what Paul said to the Corinthians: “For consider your calling, brothers, that not many were wise according to human standards, not many were powerful, not many were [rich]. But the foolish things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the strong.” Many of the rich and powerful people in the world today love their wealth and consider the Christian faith to be foolish. Sadly, some Christians desire riches, ignoring Paul’s warning that the love of money can be disastrous.